Compounding on my concerns about the seemingly increasing automation in the game, I have also observed a trend in the Evolution games regarding role overlaps. In the first Evolution game we had the ACU Team and the Ranger Teams separated out into 2 distinct roles/buildings, but the roles started to really blur when Rangers were given tranquilizer darts mirroring the ACU helicopter. Come JWE2 the ACU and Ranger Team were combined into the Response Facility and the tranquilizer darts were once more removed from the Rangers, but we gained the MVU and Ranger Posts which allowed you to assign any team to them.
Now with JWE3 on the horizon, I am once more seeing early signs with the new Maintenance Teams that are really blurring the lines, so I have some proposals.
The goal is to lessen or remove overlap to better distinguish the role each team plays. This makes them more interesting and necessary in your park and also requires situational awareness.
Maintenance Team
Some speculation on my part, but if all the Maintenance team exists for is to split off some of the Ranger Team's tasks then this by itself is underwhelming and not really contributing much. However, based on our first glimpses of the Maintenance Facility, I was inspired by a cut building from JPOG —Vehicle Maintenance Depot. Coincidentally this also addresses a long time pet-peeve of mine, in that vehicle destruction doesn't amount to anything.
Therefore, I propose a vehicle repair/replace mechanic be tied to this facility. You are charged a flat rate for repairs or a higher replacement cost if a vehicle is destroyed. A corresponding cooldown is then triggered at the Maintenance Facility. The facility has 4-5 bays like a Hatchery for vehicles and requires additional facilities if they are all processing repairs/replacements. No more cheap instantaneous replacements or magical healing properties! May mean nothing to well managed parks, but a dire consequence for parks that place vehicles in harm's way.
Impacted Vehicles
Ranger Team
The Rangers have previously existed as the everyman of the Evolution series. They were never really wanting for anything except maybe tranquilizer darts till it was patched in. Come JWE2 though they lost the darts again their everyman role just expanded again. My aim is to narrow their role but make them more vulnerable with some dinosaur aggression tweaks. They've lost utility, but I think getting their darts back compensates especially given the added threat and it allows them to better make use of their flares to preserve themselves.
Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU)
The MVU is arguably the most one-dimensional vehicle we have. You point and click and it automatically deals with 99% of any medical problem. This wasn't always the case though and I felt it was important to consolidate comfort and welfare checks into one team. Effectively this restores the MVU to its launch state where it had to identify ailments before treating them. Updates gave it some flexibility by allowing them to be assigned to Ranger Posts and now Supply Sheds?
Anyhow, I feel Frontier overreacted to the MVU when the real problem was just Dominance fights and it lost a lot in the process. Moreover, to differentiate the MVU, making it stop to treat a Minor Injury leaves itself vulnerable to attack. Further, due to its relative size, it would make for a good transport so Tiny/Small species can be more appealingly transported to enclosures whether for treatment or release. The goal was to avoid an overlap, so I chose to avoid giving standard transport to Rangers.
This should actually be your busiest team moving forward.
Capture Team
Overlap with the Ranger Team was unavoidable, but not wholly unwarranted. In all fairness, I think just straight up copying a feature from JPOG made a ton of sense here. By grounding Capture Team helicopters during storms you force the player to rely on their Rangers and it helps make each team feel like they fill a niche role. However, I also propose a Storm Rotors upgrade, like JPOG, where you can give your helicopters the ability to take flight during inclement weather.
Mind you, I think Storm Rotors should serve as one of the final upgrades in the Infrastructure research tree and be very expensive, require high Scientist skill requirements, and take a long time to research that way Rangers aren't so readily trivialized out the gate.
If we can assign these vehicles distinct roles, I see no problem with the automation that Ranger Posts and Security Cameras can provide to help you manage your park. I just don't want them to be uninteractive set-and-forget kind of mechanics where its just there so the player doesn't have to play the game or care if their park is turning into a disaster. I actually like we finally have security cameras though. Thoughts?
Now with JWE3 on the horizon, I am once more seeing early signs with the new Maintenance Teams that are really blurring the lines, so I have some proposals.
| Teams | Maintenance Team | Ranger Team | Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU) | Capture Team |
| Function |
|
|
|
|
| Utility |
|
|
|
|
| Limitations |
|
|
|
|
The goal is to lessen or remove overlap to better distinguish the role each team plays. This makes them more interesting and necessary in your park and also requires situational awareness.
Maintenance Team
Some speculation on my part, but if all the Maintenance team exists for is to split off some of the Ranger Team's tasks then this by itself is underwhelming and not really contributing much. However, based on our first glimpses of the Maintenance Facility, I was inspired by a cut building from JPOG —Vehicle Maintenance Depot. Coincidentally this also addresses a long time pet-peeve of mine, in that vehicle destruction doesn't amount to anything.
Therefore, I propose a vehicle repair/replace mechanic be tied to this facility. You are charged a flat rate for repairs or a higher replacement cost if a vehicle is destroyed. A corresponding cooldown is then triggered at the Maintenance Facility. The facility has 4-5 bays like a Hatchery for vehicles and requires additional facilities if they are all processing repairs/replacements. No more cheap instantaneous replacements or magical healing properties! May mean nothing to well managed parks, but a dire consequence for parks that place vehicles in harm's way.
Impacted Vehicles
- ATV
- Jeep
- MVU
- Tour Truck
- Gyrosphere
- Helicopter
Ranger Team
The Rangers have previously existed as the everyman of the Evolution series. They were never really wanting for anything except maybe tranquilizer darts till it was patched in. Come JWE2 though they lost the darts again their everyman role just expanded again. My aim is to narrow their role but make them more vulnerable with some dinosaur aggression tweaks. They've lost utility, but I think getting their darts back compensates especially given the added threat and it allows them to better make use of their flares to preserve themselves.
Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU)
The MVU is arguably the most one-dimensional vehicle we have. You point and click and it automatically deals with 99% of any medical problem. This wasn't always the case though and I felt it was important to consolidate comfort and welfare checks into one team. Effectively this restores the MVU to its launch state where it had to identify ailments before treating them. Updates gave it some flexibility by allowing them to be assigned to Ranger Posts and now Supply Sheds?
Anyhow, I feel Frontier overreacted to the MVU when the real problem was just Dominance fights and it lost a lot in the process. Moreover, to differentiate the MVU, making it stop to treat a Minor Injury leaves itself vulnerable to attack. Further, due to its relative size, it would make for a good transport so Tiny/Small species can be more appealingly transported to enclosures whether for treatment or release. The goal was to avoid an overlap, so I chose to avoid giving standard transport to Rangers.
This should actually be your busiest team moving forward.
Capture Team
Overlap with the Ranger Team was unavoidable, but not wholly unwarranted. In all fairness, I think just straight up copying a feature from JPOG made a ton of sense here. By grounding Capture Team helicopters during storms you force the player to rely on their Rangers and it helps make each team feel like they fill a niche role. However, I also propose a Storm Rotors upgrade, like JPOG, where you can give your helicopters the ability to take flight during inclement weather.
Mind you, I think Storm Rotors should serve as one of the final upgrades in the Infrastructure research tree and be very expensive, require high Scientist skill requirements, and take a long time to research that way Rangers aren't so readily trivialized out the gate.
If we can assign these vehicles distinct roles, I see no problem with the automation that Ranger Posts and Security Cameras can provide to help you manage your park. I just don't want them to be uninteractive set-and-forget kind of mechanics where its just there so the player doesn't have to play the game or care if their park is turning into a disaster. I actually like we finally have security cameras though. Thoughts?
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